Monday, January 27, 2014

Preserving glass negatives for the future

We were very lucky to receive a grant from the Decatur County Community Foundation for the digitization of our fragile glass negative collection. We were also extremely lucky to receive so much support from individual donors. Funding from these donors allowed us to provide a proper long-term storage system for these images. After we gathered quotes from several archival storage companies, it looked like we would need just over $400 to purchase acid-free four-flap enclosures and boxes for the negatives. It took some time, but thanks to many donors, we were able to raise the funds!

A huge thank you to:

Judi Poertner

Kyle Betit

Traci Ashley

Donyelle DeVore-Kemp

Jill Chambers

Marilyn McAhren in memory of Lelia McIntyre

James Doerflinger

Margo Heran

Quentin Best

Greg Enneking

Sally Robbins

Don Yeager

Rita Flack

Mary Edwards

Andrea Ingmire

and

several anonymous donors.

This completely acid-free archival storage system will keep these fragile images safe for generations to come.

Four-flap enclosures allow each negative to be encased on all four sides, assuring uniform pressure.

The enclosed negatives are stored vertically in boxes that are interleaved with corrugated board to support the plates.

Each box is labeled and securely stored.

When you look back at where this project began, it's amazing to see how far we've come...

Thank you to everyone who has supported this project and followed our progress!